The 34-year-old Belgian brought home our team’s fifth podium at this edition.
Alessandria, the birthplace of one of the 20th century’s greatest medievalists and most influential semioticians, Umberto Eco, served as the start for stage 13, a completely flat one except for two short but demanding hills in the last 20 kilometers. With a summit finish scheduled for Saturday, everybody knew this was going to be a huge opportunity for the breakaway, and as such, the fight for one to form was nervous and intense from the beginning.
Eventually, 15 men managed to go clear, including Napoli runner-up Jasper Stuyven, whose long pulls at the front helped the group forge out a nice gap on the peloton. It soon became clear - for both escapees and bunch - that the breakaway would make it on Friday, and as a result the gap quickly ballooned to ten minutes.
As predicted, the main moves of the day came on the last climb, where riders started attacking left and right, making an important selection. Jasper did his best to hang on, but the pace and the gradients were too hard for him, so he decided to ride his own tempo without going into the red.
It turned out to be a smart decision, as after cresting the climb, the Belgian made up ground on the descent and joined the first chasing group. In the final 200 meters, he proved to be the fastest from that quartet, sprinting to third place in Verbania and notching up his fifth stage podium at the Corsa Rosa.
“The tempo was so high on the final ascent and the ramps steep, so in the end I had to let go of the group despite my best efforts. I knew the descent well, having studied it, and I rode hard there to reduce the deficit, but the gap was too big in the end. Two podiums and a top five for me so far, so it wasn’t a bad Giro on a personal level. There are still some stages left and I will keep trying”, said Jasper, who is now fourth in the points classification, led by Soudal Quick-Step teammate Paul Magnier.
Photo credit: ©Dario Belingheri / Getty Images
